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Ask HN: If you had 24 hours in the year 2050, what questions would you ask?

by pmohun on 4/27/22, 9:58 AM with 56 comments

• by dusted on 4/27/22, 12:56 PM

  Sorry to be boring, but I'd go look up lottery numbers first.

  Then stocks.

  I'd then like to talk with someone who is knowable about the current state of affairs. What kind of quality of living do the general population have ? Are there classes? How is everyday life spent for most people?

  I don't know what happens if I start asking about myself or things I directly influence, since I'll be bringing that knowledge back with me and so it would influence my actions in the past and.. loopy time.

• by flappyeagle on 4/27/22, 11:26 AM

  What is considered morally reprehensible today that was common practice 30 years ago?

  What were the most important historical events of the past 30 years?

  What technologies have widespread adoption today that were rare or nonexistent 30 years ago?

• by _moof on 4/27/22, 12:07 PM

  That's not that long from now. Most people will have lived through the present day. Aside from the obvious "get rich quick schemes," I'd probably ask, "What do you think I should know?"

• by speedylight on 4/27/22, 11:18 AM

  I would divide my time… first few hours would be about the general state of society… what happened with climate change? - Are people still dying from COVID? - How’s china doing (economy specifically)? - Is the iPhone still popular? - Did we get to mars? Another moon landing? - Are we still waging wars? - Did Elon succeed with Twitter? - Is congress still useless? - Is the queen still kicking? - Did the metaverse succeed?

  Then a quick 15-30 mins on stock prices, crypto to make a quick buck.

  The rest of the time I’d spend asking questions about any new discoveries made in science. - Did we discover any new elements or fundamental particles? - Did mRNA cure cancer? - Is fusion economically feasible and if so how? - Any new math equations? - Are micro plastics harmful? - Did Analog computers make a come back? - Did we achieve quantum supremacy?

  In reality though I probably wouldn’t think about asking half of these questions.

• by admissionsguy on 4/27/22, 12:09 PM

  Where did the bombs fall?

  What areas were free of fallout?

  What areas survived the subsequent unrest and famine unscathed?

  Where did the new centres of power form?

  Who the powerful people are?

  What did they do during/after the war that made them powerful?

• by ammmir on 4/27/22, 11:18 AM

  An interesting question on many levels.

  Is a notebook and pen the only conveyance of information or will you have your memories retained on the return to the present day? Do you devise an encoding scheme prior to departure to maximize the bits of information that can be written in the notebook?

  How will you act on the information when you return? Will people believe you? Do you want to come back with some verifiable information so people will believe you? Before leaving, announce that you will visit the future, and ask everyone with a private key to sign a message to their respective future selves, so that their messages from the future can be verified by the present self?

  What is the goal of this endeavor, to personally profit or for all of humanity to profit for mistakes that will be made between now and 2050?

  You could spend the entire 24 hours teleporting to various places on Earth (and possibly Mars and the Moon), talking to random people in all socioeconomic strata of society, all the while taking copious notes and have them write signed messages in your notebook. Kind of like a yearbook from the future.

  Or do you ask specific questions about science, medicine, advances in technology, materials, so you accelerate humanity's progress forward?

  When you return, do you decide to mint your notebook as an NFT collection? Auction it off? Go on Joe Rogan to talk about it? Keep stock, crypto, market prices to yourself so only you can benefit? Become a philanthropist with the profits?

  So many questions.

• by soueuls on 4/27/22, 12:31 PM

  In 2050 my daughter would pretty much be the same age as I am right now.

  I think I would just spend the afternoon with her, would be interesting to talk with your own kids as complete "equals".

  Would not bother too much with climate change or scientific progress. I am an idealist, I like the idea of humans giving up their whole life for their one true obsession. I think, shortcutting this with insider information would make my regular life after I am back, a bit disappointing.

• by trifit on 4/27/22, 10:00 AM

  What’s the price of Bitcoin? Who’s the current president? What companies on the Fortune 500 are still the same as 2022? Does climate change have an impact on our lives?

• by f0e4c2f7 on 4/27/22, 10:54 AM

  Probably a lot of physics and materials questions.

  Y'all got any of those...superconductors yet?

• by f1refly on 4/27/22, 11:18 AM

  Does the default gtk file picker have thumbnails yet?

• by bradlys on 4/27/22, 4:12 PM

  Lottery ticket numbers for immediate use when home. Best performing stocks (or whatever metric I need to leverage options effectively) and trends within the next ten years. (With some analysis on long term trends)

  Where real estate goes up the most over the following 25 years. What cities/regions become most enjoyable to live in compared to now and have a clear upward trend still within them.

  After that - I’d probably just look into safest, cleanest, and most reliable places to live because I’m stupid FAT at this point (billionaire status within a few years) and my only concern is my well being in life.

  I’d also like to read books or find out information about how people viewed events from 30 years ago and what they think should’ve been done and what we could do going forward. Oh and if there’s any ground breaking research or inventions in the last 20 years that I could take back and make a fortune on. That’d be dope.

• by quickthrower2 on 4/27/22, 10:10 AM

  1. A prediction for 2023 I can use as evidence that I have traveled to the future. And provide trust to set me up for the next step:

  2. An important message for people currently in power in 2020s. Devised by the 2050s wisest people to persuade to avoid the big mistake we made.

  3. And, well hoverboards yet?

• by spywaregorilla on 4/27/22, 1:25 PM

  We have a 24 hour period to defy causality with instantaneous travel and the scientific community is already expecting and prepared to run some experiments. This is no time for selfish self serving questions.

• by tluyben2 on 4/27/22, 11:07 AM

  It is too short a timespan; the year 2500 would be better. Statistically I'll even make it to 2050. But yeah, it's so short that I think; what to invest in long term and memorize the larger financial/crisis recession points (there should be maybe 3-4 before that time). Obviously there are things that can jump out on your travels; if there was a nuclear war then you'll know or a significant other event and you can learn the dates and prep for them.

  I would be more interested in knowing what people would figure 24 hours in 2500 though.

• by danijelb on 4/27/22, 1:31 PM

  What language is the most useful/widely spoken globally? What career is most paid? Which stocks or other investments gained most in each decade from 20s to 50s? What is the most useful new scientific discovery? What are the current political/economic blocks? Which things/trends that existed already in 2022 or earlier are still relevant in 2050? Describe the current youth/pop culture. Describe an average day of an average person

• by t-3 on 4/27/22, 10:39 AM

  Honestly, I'd be most interested in whether or not I'm still alive. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to get rich or famous, but those aren't exactly interesting. It's highly doubtful any significant changes in society or human nature would come about in such a short time, and politics are more likely depressing than useful or inspiring.

• by AnimalMuppet on 4/27/22, 4:22 PM

  Selfishly: Who won the Super Bowl each year since 2022? I could get a pretty nice return from Vegas on that info.

  Scientifically: Do you have a theory that reconciles general relativity and quantum mechanics? What does it explain? What does it predict?

  Socially: What admissionsguy said. Where did the bombs fall? Where was safe?

• by libertine on 4/27/22, 12:49 PM

  The funny question: Is Skyrim still being re-released?

  The selfish question: where should I park my money to get the most out of it, like land, stock, etc?

  The serious question: What message do you want me to pass on to our leaders back in 2022?

• by jleyank on 4/27/22, 11:13 AM

  If you’re a pessimist, take a Geiger counter and lots of iodine. If you’re an optimist, take a notepad and a pencil or two. And as others have said, get the name of the key startups and sports victories.

• by Ambolia on 4/27/22, 10:50 AM

  If there is a collapse maybe they would be the ones asking questions. Which key infrastructure know-how and technical knowledge would you take from 2021 to help the people from 2050?

• by deanmoriarty on 4/27/22, 12:01 PM

  I would write down the top performing public securities for every year, then go back and buy options on those to maximize my profits. Make it my new job. That would be soooo sweet.

• by patrickz on 4/27/22, 12:08 PM

  1. What are the best performance stock from 2022 to 2050? 2. When did the biggest bull and bear market happen? 3. Will I still be alive in 2050?

• by Phithagoras on 4/28/22, 12:13 AM

  1) Has the Riemann hypothesis been solved yet?

  I'd have to think for a while for the others

• by casion on 4/27/22, 12:49 PM

  What year did I die? 2022 or did I get a few extra months out of it?

• by carbonsoul on 4/27/22, 11:56 AM

  1. What do I need to do in order to escape this nightmare?

  2. How can I help others?

• by Jaruzel on 4/27/22, 10:58 AM

  I'd ask "Which tech or disruptive startup from 2023 onwards is now a massive success, and when did they start offering shares?"

  Once back in my own time, wait and invest accordingly, then reap the profit.

• by traceroute66 on 4/27/22, 1:13 PM

  Hello 2050 person, tell me more about Elon Musk's fall from fame.

  ;-)